Edgeland

March 20, 2017
In this intriguing fantasy, two friends discover the secret of life after death as they travel to the realm where people go to await their final fate. Wren is an orphan and thief living on Edgeland, an island that services the Drain, a hole in the ocean into which the deceased are sent. When Wren is framed for murder, she attempts to flee, and she and her best friend Alec are swept through the Drain, ending up in Purgatory. They discover a bizarre community made up of the living and the dead, led by religious leaders who exercise tyrannical control over their subjects. In order to return to the world in which they belong, Alec and Wren must unravel long-hidden secrets and free the trapped spirits. Halpern and Kujawinski provide a fascinating world, and their story is fueled by a strong premise and compelling protagonists, but it doesn’t reach its full potential. As in Nightfall, too many aspects of the setting are left unexplained while the plot rushes ahead at full speed. Ages 10–up. Agent: Tina Bennett, William Morris Endeavor.

March 15, 2017
After being banished from House Aron for stealing, orphan Wren must endure the bleak life of a grayling on the island of Edgeland, living underground and supporting herself through thievery. Her banishment has separated her from her best friend, Alec, who by the age of 12, has risen from an apprentice to a high-ranking position within House Aron, conducting complex funeral ceremonies. Dead bodies are kept in ice blocks, then sent sailing into the Drain, a large circular waterfall down which the frozen dead disappear into a seemingly bottomless mist that is the entryway to the afterlife, either the Sunlit Glade or the Moonlit Beach. The two friends are brought together when the chest with the payment for a funeral mistakenly tumbles, along with the dead, into the Drain. Desperate to recover it, Alec and Wren find themselves descending with it. Alec and Wren are now -breathers- in the world of the dead--where they learn the afterlife isn't quite what the ancient songs profess it to be. Unfortunately, this compelling premise, bolstered by complex worldbuilding, loses its steam about halfway through, as the protagonists make their way from one realm of the dead to the next, with more running and hiding than actual story. The occasional mention of pale skin but no other racial markers implies a white default. As the living help to liberate the dead, intriguing characters roam the pages of a lifeless story. (Fantasy. 10-14)

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May 1, 2017

Gr 5-8-An imaginative adventure/fantasy exploring the afterlife. Edgeland is a place more for the living than for the dead. The island is next to the Drain, a circular waterfall that leads to the afterlife. Wren and Alec, both 12, get mixed up in some trouble and fall into the Drain, where they discover that the afterlife is not what they have been led to believe. The dead are in an endless trance while they await their release from purgatory into paradise. Wren and Alec now must solve the mystery of what is happening in the afterlife and help the dead to move on. The action is slow to start but soon develops into a compelling tale with high stakes and lots of unanswered questions. Wren and Alec have a strong relationship and interesting, plausible backstories, although they do read more like older teens than 12-year-olds. The world-building is the highlight of the novel: the settings are viscerally described, and the practices and belief system of this society are nuanced and fleshed out. The themes of tradition and what happens to us when we die are thoughtfully explored. VERDICT Recommended for fans of James Dashner's "Maze Runner" series, this is a solid addition to collections serving upper middle grade and middle school readers.-Allison McLean, Elkhart Public Library, IN

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from May 1, 2017
Grades 5-8 *Starred Review* Life on Edgeland is devoted to funerary arts, due to its nearness to the Drainthe waterfall-like ocean drop-off believed to lead to purgatory. Dodging through the somber island's streets, 12-year-old Wren snatches what valuables she can in order to buy passage off Edgeland and find her missing father. It's a cutthroat existence that ultimately lands her at the scene of a murder, rendering Wren its prime suspect. Before making her escape, she agrees to help her friend Alec retrieve a considerable payment to his bone house (a cross between a funeral parlor and church) that was accidentally loaded onto a funeral raft. Their daring plan goes spectacularly wrong, sending Wren and Alec over the Drain's edge along with the dead, who are reviving for their journey to the afterlife. Purgatory is a dangerous place for the living, and as Wren and Alec endeavor to escape, their core beliefs are challenged in unexpected ways. Halpern and Kujawinski have constructed a refreshing, original fantasy that thoughtfully probes the subjects of class, religion, and morality. Wren's and Alec's responses to the astonishing sights in the Drain are believable and reflective of their individual personalities, maintaining the importance of their inner lives. Compellingly written, this otherworldly adventure is a unique offering that deserves attention. Happily, an open ending suggests Wren and Alec's adventures have only begun.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)